Law Degree Anyone?

mikeassured

Hi

My dd is considering law as a career. She has been advised to take Law at A level and was told it would be more beneficial to then go straight to a law firm after a levels than to do a law degree?? She was told she would be earning approx £8000pa but the firm would pay for the courses she would need to do. They said that if you go down the route of going to uni to do a law degree, it is more difficult to get a placement/job.

Is anyone training to be a lawyer/solicitor or is already qualified and could give their opinion??

Many thanks

Sue

captiva

Hi - I find that advice really strange, Sue.
I'm a law graduate myself, and my brother is a qualified lawyer in the city of London.

This may be the route into that particular company, but if she ever wanted to work at any other law firm, I think she would find it almost impossible without a law degree, or at least without a degree of some kind and a relevant conversion course.

In fact, I'd say it's particularly bad advice - for a law career, it's worth keeping your education broad at the A-level stage, and then taking law at degree level. Many law schools consider it a disadvantage to have a law A-level and try to 'unteach' what has been taught, so that you can then gain sufficient depth in knowledge to do well at degree level.

If she has any doubts, she could call the recruitment officers at any large lawfirm and ask them what they're looking for. I think she will definitely find that they absolutely require a law degree - often at least a 2:1.

Money-wise, if she takes this route, she can expect a much higher starting salary, although of course she will need to plan for the large financial burden of a degree course.

skyrocket

She can always do her law degree with the Open University. That way she could work at the same time. And people on low incomes can get their courses paid for! It might take longer but it's something worth looking at.
Sky xx

Blacksheep1979

agree totally with captiva here - don't know why they would suggest that at all.

Trying_really_hard

I have a Law Degree and I mainly agree with the posters above.

1. It is not necessary to do law at A Level for going down the uni path. It does cover basics on English law such as the legal system and criminal, but doesn't really put you in any better position than a non-law A-level.

2. What you say about uni and it being hard to get a placement can depend. I have found it very very difficult to find a job (I'm still looking) and found that because I had to work through uni instead of doing voluntary work, I was rejected for every placement that I applied for. The job will provide her with experience and free courses but may not provide her with that all important 2:1 Degree which seems to be the standard entry requirement now.

That's just my opinion and I'm sure many will differ. Good luck to her though. I found it (and still do) a very interesting subject.

mikeassured

Thanks for your replies.

She had decided on a career in medicine, but a firm of solicitors came into school and gave what she said was a very interesting presentation about choosing a career in law. I think that they may have made it look a lot easier than it is in reality. They are offering work experience placements in the summer after her gcse's which she is very interested in doing. Maybe like you say they are interested in attracting students to their firm after a levels.


Sue

Hippychick

I think it depends really on what your daughter wants to do deep down, does she want a job at 18 or does she want to have the uni experience?

I think you are probably referring to ILEX which is a course which many legal firms will fund, you study whilst working and will become a qualified legal executive (which is a very respectable qualification in its own right), you can then have the option of taking an additional course to qualify as a solicitor, it takes a lot longer than the normal degree route but the plus side is she won't have to face a very expensive student debt, and she will have years of work experience under her belt at the same time. Check out https://www.ilex.org.uk for info

If she went the law degree route competition for training contracts at the end of her degree is fierce and she may have to pay for the LPC at the end of it which i think is between 6-8k. You never know she may get lucky and get a training contract and the firm will pay for the LPC, but do you want to take that risk?

I currently work for a very large regional firm and we can recruit so many law grads for basic admin jobs because they cannot get a training contract.

It is a tough choice to make and I wish your daughter the best of luck.

Perhaps your daughter could consider a gap year, if she doesn't like working at 18 she could always go to Uni a year later and she will have a years work experience behind her which would give her an edge?

i don't think A level law is necessary, although it may help her get a job in the legal profession at 18.

Chall

I would recommend using an actual university rather than the open university (no offence skyrocket). Law firms are less likely to look favourably on an open university course than they a degree from a university with lecturers they know about. I'm a first year law student so my advice could be ignored, but understand I did my research before deciding what to do and where to d my degree, I would recommend your daughter does the same as it would give her an inciteful look at the role of a lawyer, what is involved in training, and what solicitors firms want from trainees.

No_Future

She could always go for the post GCSE work experience, see what it's like and do a degree in law?

As the above have said, a law degree from a good uni is essential.

dmg24

The firm could be offering the opportunity for candidates to join post A Level, then they will sponsor them to take their degree on a part time basis (over four years). This would be through a local university, not necessarily OU (though OU in my opinion is highly regarded).

I know several people who have done this, and though I know it wouldn't have been the right route for me, they have all been very successful, and gone on to qualify.

The benefits of doing it this way are the guarantees involved (assuming performance is maintained), in that you have an income throughout your studies and also a training contract at the end of it all.

The possible disadvantage is that you are likely to be tied to the firm for several years post qualification.

Chall

dmg24 wrote:

The firm could be offering the opportunity for candidates to join post A Level, then they will sponsor them to take their degree on a part time basis (over four years). This would be through a local university, not necessarily OU (though OU in my opinion is highly regarded).

I know several people who have done this, and though I know it wouldn't have been the right route for me, they have all been very successful, and gone on to qualify.

The benefits of doing it this way are the guarantees involved (assuming performance is maintained), in that you have an income throughout your studies and also a training contract at the end of it all.

The possible disadvantage is that you are likely to be tied to the firm for several years post qualification.

I doubt this is actually what the firm is offering, it's more likely that they would put you through a long series of arduous tests, the legal executive exams I believe they're called; I would definately opt to go to uni (as I have).